Pope
Benedict XVI - Messages - World Day of Prayer for Vocations 2011 |
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
48th World
Day of Prayer for Vocations
Sunday, May 15, 2011
"Proposing Vocations in
the Local Church"
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
The 48th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, to be celebrated on 15
May 2011, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, invites us to reflect on the
theme: "Proposing Vocations in the Local Church". Seventy years ago,
Venerable Pius XII established the Pontifical Work of Priestly
Vocations. Similar bodies, led by priests and members of the lay
faithful, were subsequently established by Bishops in many dioceses
as a response to the call of the Good Shepherd who, "when he saw the
crowds, had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without
a shepherd", and went on to say: "The harvest is plentiful but the
labourers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send
out labourers into his harvest!" (Mt 9:36-38).
The work of carefully encouraging and supporting vocations finds a
radiant source of inspiration in those places in the Gospel where
Jesus calls his disciples to follow him and trains them with love
and care. We should pay close attention to the way that Jesus called
his closest associates to proclaim the Kingdom of God (cf. Lk 10:9).
In the first place, it is clear that the first thing he did was to
pray for them: before calling them, Jesus spent the night alone in
prayer, listening to the will of the Father (cf. Lk 6:12) in a
spirit of interior detachment from mundane concerns. It is Jesus'
intimate conversation with the Father which results in the calling
of his disciples. Vocations to the ministerial priesthood and to the
consecrated life are first and foremost the fruit of constant
contact with the living God and insistent prayer lifted up to the
"Lord of the harvest", whether in parish communities, in Christian
families or in groups specifically devoted to prayer for vocations.
At the beginning of his public life, the Lord called some fishermen
on the shore of the Sea of Galilee: "Follow me and I will make you
fishers of men" (Mt 4:19). He revealed his messianic mission to them
by the many "signs" which showed his love for humanity and the gift
of the Father's mercy. Through his words and his way of life he
prepared them to carry on his saving work. Finally, knowing "that
his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father" (Jn
13:1), he entrusted to them the memorial of his death and
resurrection, and before ascending into heaven he sent them out to
the whole world with the command: "Go, therefore, make disciples of
all nations" (Mt 28:19).
It is a challenging and uplifting invitation that Jesus addresses to
those to whom he says: "Follow me!". He invites them to become his
friends, to listen attentively to his word and to live with him. He
teaches them complete commitment to God and to the extension of his
kingdom in accordance with the law of the Gospel: "Unless a grain of
wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it
dies, it bears much fruit " (Jn 12:24). He invites them to leave
behind their own narrow agenda and their notions of self-fulfilment
in order to immerse themselves in another will, the will of God, and
to be guided by it. He gives them an experience of fraternity, one
born of that total openness to God (cf. Mt 12:49-50) which becomes
the hallmark of the community of Jesus: "By this everyone will know
that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (Jn
13:35).
It is no less challenging to follow Christ today. It means learning
to keep our gaze fixed on Jesus, growing close to him, listening to
his word and encountering him in the sacraments; it means learning
to conform our will to his. This requires a genuine school of
formation for all those who would prepare themselves for the
ministerial priesthood or the consecrated life under the guidance of
the competent ecclesial authorities. The Lord does not fail to call
people at every stage of life to share in his mission and to serve
the Church in the ordained ministry and in the consecrated life. The
Church is "called to safeguard this gift, to esteem it and love it.
She is responsible for the birth and development of priestly
vocations" (John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Pastores Dabo Vobis, 41). Particularly in these times, when the
voice of the Lord seems to be drowned out by "other voices" and his
invitation to follow him by the gift of one's own life may seem too
difficult, every Christian community, every member of the Church,
needs consciously to feel responsibility for promoting vocations. It
is important to encourage and support those who show clear signs of
a call to priestly life and religious consecration, and to enable
hem to feel the warmth of the whole community as they respond "yes"
to God and the Church. I encourage them, in the same words which I
addressed to those who have already chosen to enter the seminary:
"You have done a good thing. Because people will always have need of
God, even in an age marked by technical mastery of the world and
globalization: they will always need the God who has revealed
himself in Jesus Christ, the God who gathers us together in the
universal Church in order to learn with him and through him life's
true meaning and in order to uphold and apply the standards of true
humanity" (Letter to Seminarians, 18 October 2010).
It is essential that every local Church become more sensitive and
attentive to the pastoral care of vocations, helping children and
young people in particular at every level of family, parish and
associations - as Jesus did with his disciples - to grow into a
genuine and affectionate friendship with the Lord, cultivated
through personal and liturgical prayer; to grow in familiarity with
the sacred Scriptures and thus to listen attentively and fruitfully
to the word of God; to understand that entering into God's will does
not crush or destroy a person, but instead leads to the discovery of
the deepest truth about ourselves; and finally to be generous and
fraternal in relationships with others, since it is only in being
open to the love of God that we discover true joy and the fulfilment
of our aspirations. "Proposing Vocations in the Local Church" means
having the courage, through an attentive and suitable concern for
vocations, to point out this challenging way of following Christ
which, because it is so rich in meaning, is capable of engaging the
whole of one's life.
I address a particular word to you, my dear brother Bishops. To
ensure the continuity and growth of your saving mission in Christ,
you should "foster priestly and religious vocations as much as
possible, and should take a special interest in missionary
vocations" (Christus Dominus, 15). The Lord needs you to cooperate
with him in ensuring that his call reaches the hearts of those whom
he has chosen. Choose carefully those who work in the Diocesan
Vocations Office, that valuable means for the promotion and
organization of the pastoral care of vocations and the prayer which
sustains it and guarantees its effectiveness. I would also remind
you, dear brother Bishops, of the concern of the universal Church
for an equitable distribution of priests in the world. Your openness
to the needs of dioceses experiencing a dearth of vocations will
become a blessing from God for your communities and a sign to the
faithful of a priestly service that generously considers the needs
of the entire Church.
The Second Vatican Council explicitly reminded us that "the duty of
fostering vocations pertains to the whole Christian community, which
should exercise it above all by a fully Christian life" (Optatam
Totius, 2). I wish, then, to say a special word of acknowledgment
and encouragement to those who work closely in various ways with the
priests in their parishes. In particular, I turn to those who can
offer a specific contribution to the pastoral care of vocations: to
priests, families, catechists and leaders of parish groups. I ask
priests to testify to their communion with their bishop and their
fellow priests, and thus to provide a rich soil for the seeds of a
priestly vocation. May families be "animated by the spirit of faith
and love and by the sense of duty" (Optatam Totius, 2) which is
capable of helping children to welcome generously the call to
priesthood and to religious life. May catechists and leaders of
Catholic groups and ecclesial movements, convinced of their
educational mission, seek to "guide the young people entrusted to
them so that these will recognize and freely accept a divine
vocation" (ibid.).
Dear brothers and sisters, your commitment to the promotion and care
of vocations becomes most significant and pastorally effective when
carried out in the unity of the Church and in the service of
communion. For this reason, every moment in the life of the Church
community - catechesis, formation meetings, liturgical prayer,
pilgrimages - can be a precious opportunity for awakening in the
People of God, and in particular in children and young people, a
sense of belonging to the Church and of responsibility for answering
the call to priesthood and to religious life by a free and informed
decision.
The ability to foster vocations is a hallmark of the vitality of a
local Church. With trust and perseverance let us invoke the aid of
the Virgin Mary, that by the example of her own acceptance of God's
saving plan and her powerful intercession, every community will be
more and more open to saying "yes" to the Lord who is constantly
calling new labourers to his harvest. With this hope, I cordially
impart to all my Apostolic Blessing.
From the Vatican, 15 November 2010
Look at the One they
Pierced!
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Mary
